Tag: 2012

02 across a table

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He had been detained on a locked ward;
schizophrenia; complex drug problems.
The day of the assessment
he was heavily medicated,
was experiencing
auditory and visual hallucinations.
He thought he had special powers,
believed he was the Son of God.
His benefits were stopped immediately.
He had been deemed fit for work
on the basis of physical tests: the ability
to pick a pen up off the ground
or move a pint of milk
across a table.

[The Scotsman, 21/01/2012, Just not working: Why government fit-to-work tests are failing]

06 see a doctor

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He was sent to his first assessment
when he gave up his job as a delivery man
after being referred
for tests on his heart.
His wife was with him:
‘She checked him out.
She did his blood pressure
and his heart,
said
“See a doctor
as soon as possible.”’
He was diagnosed with heart failure
but was still found fit for work.
He won his appeal
but was ordered to attend
another assessment
while he was waiting for a heart operation.
Again
found fit for work.
‘Significant disability
due to cardiovascular problems seems
unlikely.’
Five weeks later
he died of a heart attack.

[The Telegraph, 30/07/2012, Disability tests ‘sending sick and disabled back to work’]

21 his job prospects

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Her husband
a former painter and decorator
is bed-ridden
registered blind
with severe dementia.
She and a team of carers look after him
24 hours a day.
Doctors told him
his condition is terminal.
He was sent a letter offering an interview
to talk about his job prospects.

[Scottish Sun (via the Internet Archive), 20/01/2012, Wife blasts ‘get a job’ letter]

37 blind in one eye, barely able

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On Boxing Day
a stroke
caused a blood clot on his brain.
He was left
paralysed down his left side, unable
to speak properly,
blind in one eye, barely able
to eat
or dress.
He used a mobility scooter.
Panic alarm
around his neck
in case he fell.
He was summoned
to a work capability assessment.
The stress
caused him to have
another stroke
days before the appointment,
but he was still determined to attend.
A month later, he received a letter
telling him he would lose his benefits.
His health went
rapidly
downhill.
Constant worry;
how would he survive?
Days after his benefits were stopped
he collapsed
in the street
near his home
and died.

[Daily Record, 10/12/2012, Atos benefits bullies killed my sick dad, says devastated Kieran, 13]

51 they took

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One night
she heard him sobbing
downstairs.
He worked long hours on the farm.
He would leave at five AM.
Some days she would not see him again
until eleven. He wasn’t scared
of work.
Over the years he developed heart trouble,
diabetes, terrible ulcers.
His health deteriorated from there.
He became depressed.
She was borrowing money off everybody.
Last winter
they couldn’t put on the heating.
They sat
with blankets round them.
He was called to his Jobcentre
in late 2012.
They took his blood pressure.
They never checked his back or
asked about his diabetes
and the terrible ulcers he had on his legs.
A computer told them
he’d been on the sick
for twenty-four years –
that’s the only thing
they really knew.
It was decided
that he was capable of limited employment.
His benefit was cut.
He appealed;
a ruling would take almost a year.
He didn’t have a year.
It started in his neck,
spread rapidly.
A very rare form of cancer.
He kept saying
“I wish I could win this case
before I die.”
One night she heard him sobbing downstairs.
He told her
“I can’t go on.”
The cancer took his sight,
his hearing,
finally
his life.
They
took his dignity.

[Daily Mirror, 19/10/2013, Cancer killed my husband, but Atos took his dignity a long time before his death]

58 we have to think this way

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In the undercover film
the trainer tells trainee assessors:
“If it’s more than
twelve or thirteen percent eligible
you will be fed back
‘your rate is too high.’
That’s what we’re being told.”
During assesments
company health professionals
award claimants points,
reflecting the apparent severity
of their condition,
with information gathered
through a set of questions
led by a computer.
“We talk about mobilising,
which means
being able to transfer
from point A
to point B
either by
walking or
walking with aids
which is
crutches
walking sticks
Zimmer frame
or wheelchair. So
if someone has
no legs
but they have
good hands
they can sit
and propel a wheelchair,
they don’t score anything.
This is one of the toughest changes.
Recently I had somebody
with prostate cancer, but
of course that’s not traditionally
treated with chemotherapy. So
I gave him no points.
I couldn’t
do anything else.
Same
with breast cancer.
The hormonal treatment doesn’t count. So
no points.
I felt very uncomfortable doing it.
I didn’t
like doing it.
But I had no way of scoring him.”
The data is typed into a computer.
Patients who score 15 points
are likely to be found eligible for support.
Patients who score below
are not.
“It’s terrible sometimes.
People having problems.
Both hips, both knees, but
good hands.
Terrible.
You know
we talk about
modern work adaptations
but we know how it looks
from the other side.
There’s no jobs
for healthy people,
normal people.
We have to think this way.
Sometimes you feel awful.
You can’t do anything
for people.
You can’t feel sorry
and give them the money
just because you feel
sorry.
You’ll go on a targeted audit.”

The Guardian, 27/07/2012, Atos assessors told to disability benefit approvals low, film suggests